The Memory of Murder
by E.M. Megs
Summary: There were three things from the perfect murder that planted themselves in her memory forever: silence, blood, and a hole. There were only three things that had been able to stop her from preventing it: wishes, dreams, and time - KyoHaru - Sequel to Of The Highest Degree, 5 years later
1. Chapter 1: Suicide

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 1 – Suicide_

There was blood. It splattered the sky blue walls like the ends of a sunset. Pooled on the white marble of their kitchen floor. Soaked through the fabric of his button-up shirt. Ran into and over the few cracks. And tainted absolutely everything it came in contact with. Creeping silently, slowly, toward where she had fallen to her knees just two feet from where he had dropped. Dead.

There was silence. The kind that falls suddenly in that moment of slow motion when falling in a dream. Not a single thing moved or spoke. The world had frozen as her shock set in. Every beautiful yet painful detail she witnessed spoke more than the picture as a whole.

The fabric of his shift, tainted by the blood pooled around his head.

The paleness of his skin, splattered in a similar way as the wall.

The gun. Harsh, black, sleek, lethal metal and plastic held by screws and industry strength glue. Barrel dipped in red shine. Handle a foot from his hand.

His once beautiful, lively obsidian eyes, blank and staring at nothing.

The hole. The ragged flesh bordering the sides where the endless stream flowed. Where metal had entered. The hole in his head. The hole in her heart. The hole in the entire world that had destroyed everything.

A scream, previously caught up in her throat now wrenched free with the reappearance of time.

"KYOYA!"

With scrambling feet that couldn't seem to find purchase, she ran the three remaining feet to his side. His cell phone lay in shattered pieces across the floor where he must have dropped it while falling. Without realizing cries of anguish ripped from her throat. She was holding his head in her lap one moment and beating on his chest the next screaming, "WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? HOW COULD YOU?" until her voice and anger gave way to the sobs that she rarely allowed free. "Why, Kyoya?"

"_Kyoya, I'm on my way home. Don't move, okay? We'll straighten this out." _

"_Haruhi… There isn't anything to straighten out." _

Another scream ripped from her being as she cradled his bloody head to her chest. A yell from the front door announced the twins' arrival. "Haruhi!"

"_What do you mean?" _

"_I mean, they're right. I murdered the Takahashis." _

Something hadn't sounded right about his voice. Something thick and heavy about it. Sad, but scheming at the same time. Weary, like he'd given up hope.

"Haruhi!" Kaoru was yelling at her now, "You've got to let him go!"

"No!" she yelled, still distraught with grief. There was no way she was letting go. This wasn't real. It was some nightmare that she would wake up from and find him lying there beside her in bed smiling like every morning.

"_Don't be silly, Kyoya." _

"_I'm not kidding, Haruhi. I killed them." _

She hadn't believed him. Even though everything had circled back to him, she had never believed any of it.

Until now.

"You weren't a murderer," she whispered, stroking his cheek with the back of her fingers. The ring on her hand glittered maliciously, it too having been tainted with his blood.

"_Kyoya… You're scaring me." _

"_I'm sorry. I really am. I love you." _

Until she heard the gunshot from the other end of the phone just as she was pulling up to the apartment.

Two pairs of arms gripped her under the arms and pulled her up. She struggled. Kyoya's head rolled off her lap. She stared to tell them to leave her alone when she was engulfed in a familiar part of arms. Surrounded by a familiar scent.

She cried. She cried more tears that she had ever shed in his life. Now she knew how her father had felt when her mother had died. The pair of arms now holding her scooped her up, but she pushed him off and scrambled back to the floor.

"Haruhi…"

"Shut up, Tamaki," she growled, voice croaking from her tears. Carefully, gently, she pulled the diamond ring from her left hand and pressed it into Kyoya's lifeless fingers, pushing them until they enclosed around it. "I can't wear that thing knowing that he did this. Knowing that I'll never marry him."

This time, when Tamaki moved to pick her up, she let him.

Images of the scene haunted her for weeks to come.

~o~

**A/N: So~ Here we are~ The newest addition to my KyoHaru crime muse~ Teehee~ Enjoy~ And keep in mind that the timeline for this is going to be VERY skewed. Each chapter will be from a different time in the actual plotline. You'll see what I mean in two weeks when I post the next one. These chapters are also a hell of a lot shorter than LD ones so I'll probably update this more than that. **

**Bit of background on this. This is five years after OTHD and Haruhi and Kyoya have been together for that entire period of time. Tamaki and Kaoru are both married. Hikaru is engaged and Hunny and Mori both remain single. Ken, as you'll find out in the next chapter, has been replaced as sheriff, but is still around. Nekozawa's still coroner and Renge is still around as well. Wohoo! **

**Drop me a review and tell me what you think! :D **


	2. Chapter 2: Murder

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 2 – Murder_

She swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat from the sharp, tangy smell of blood and the garbage-esque one of decomposing flesh. She didn't say anything as she took in the scene before her. Her partner squatted next to the body and stared into the man's face. "Ray Takahashi," she told him. He didn't reply, just continued to stare at the corpse on the kitchen floor. "Something wrong, Kyoya?" she called with a twinkling smile. His own lips curved upward as though he had some kind of secret.

"No," he replied simply. She felt as though there were more that he wanted to say but when he didn't continue, she just let it go.

"Second body!" an officer yelled from another room. "Female! Possibly the wife!"

The speed that Kyoya reacted to that statement frightened her a bit. It was almost as if he were gleeful. She followed him back at a much slower pace. When she reached him she was surprised that he had a small smile on his face.

Something was wrong here. Terribly wrong.

Sprawled out on the bed, half naked, in front of them was a woman soaked ungraciously in her own blood, identical wounds to her husband's and her 3 piece suit shredded and strewn about the room.

She let out a gasp as she recognized the face. "Is that… Chiyoko Takahashi?"

"Is it?" Kyoya countered nonchalantly.

"If it is we're gonna have one hell of a time telling her current clients the news."

"Don't rush yourself, Haruhi, dearest."

She scowled at the pet name attached to her given one. "Kyoya, we're working. Now is hardly the time nor the place," she scolded, remaining straight-faced although she could feel the blood starting to rise in her cheeks.

"And I'm the uptight serious one?" he snorted.

"Kyoya," she said in a warning voice, eyes now set to a glare.

"Relax," he murmured, "I doubt anyone's going to even notice." Though even he took a glance at the new sheriff that had replaced Ken almost a year ago. She was not so lenient towards relationships in the workplace. Not to mention she hated Kyoya's what she called, "Hot shot behavior" of thinking he had the entire department wrapped around his finger, which he knew of course that he did not.

"If Takikara…"

"I know."

She gave him one last stern look, not even bothering to complete her sentence since they both knew how it ended. If Takikara caught them she could split up their partnership. They weren't supposed to be together, according to her standards. She had threatened it before, saying that it was both bad form and could entice bad judgment in the field.

They'd never seen it that way.

Kyoya especially hadn't. Though he and Haruhi had been living together for three years, away from home they were strictly partners, as Haruhi had just reminded him. To Takikara, they had broken up, to everyone else, they worked, lived, for each other.

"I take pictures here, you there?" she asked hesitantly, getting to work right away. He merely nodded and returned to the previous room.

He looked again. Blood pooled around his head from the gunshot wound placed just between the top of his ear and temple. It soaked into the skin of his shirtless torso. His eyes were shut, the gun that had inflicted the wound just feet from his clenched fingers. Kyoya stood for a long time examining the corpse without moving.

"Kyoya?" She noticed that he almost jumped out of his trance at the sound of her voice. She touched his shoulder gently in a simple gesture of concern. "Are you sure nothing's wrong? You've been standing there like you've seen a ghost for the past 10 minutes." He turned in his pot to stare her in the eyes. Those milk chocolate amber eyes that so clearly spoke of concern for him.

"I'm fine," he murmured. She bit her lip, not quite sure if she should believe him when he said, "If anything serious were wrong, I'd tell you. Just have a slight headache is all." His voice was gentle but she still stared at him suspiciously for several moments.

"Okay," she finally whispered, turning away. She trusted him enough that he would tell her later.

"Looks like a suicide, Haruhi," Kyoya called her back with a dry mouth.

She looked back at him with a grim smile. "Kyoya… You more than anyone should know better than to assume suicide." Her eyes twinkled sadly.

He scowled at her. "Just calling it as I see it, Haruhi. Preliminary guess."

"Wife was definitely a homicide. Shot straight between the eyes."

"Homicide-suicide then. Interesting. Been awhile since we've had one of those, huh, Haruhi?"

She wasn't smiling now, but grimacing. His own slight cheerfulness also disappeared.

This was not something to rejoice.

~o~

**A/N: Feel free to share theories with me. I've been watching Sherlock (which I love. Especially the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock. He's so GOOD). Someday, I'm going to meet Mark Gatniss and grill him on how he writes that show so well. WHY CAN'T I WRITE SOMETHING THAT AMAZING? I've also decided that I hate television networks for getting me hooked on amazing shows and then making me wait a year for the new season to come out. That's just unfair. **

**Kudos to: lilsketcher617, isara-love, and KikiHitachiinTheOuranOtaku. **


	3. Chapter 3: Mourn

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 3 – Mourn_

She found the note two days after the funeral. Six days after his death. Four days after the case was closed and Kyoya proclaimed the murderer. Although she had tried to defend him, there was no way to when she was the one that had heard his confession.

"Give it up, Fujioka! You heard him yourself! Your partner was a murderer! Just accept the facts and move on!"

But she couldn't. Especially not now that she was taking in his words. Devouring them with her eyes, blurred with her own shedding tears. This was the first time she had been allowed back in this apartment and now there wasn't anyone to catch her when she fell to her knees in a fresh wave of grief.

_My dearest Haruhi, _

_If you are reading this, then I must be gone. And I must apologize in advance, for this is very short notice, even for me… I do not want them to catch me. If they do, then I will be put in a position where I would never see you again. That is something that I cannot live with. _

_You are probably asking yourself why… And that is not something I can answer. Justice, guilt, all those human things that I pretended to be above all those years. You are not to blame. None of this is your fault and I never wanted to bring you into it… Never wanted to hurt you. _

_Do not cry for me, Haruhi. Do not cry for who I was or what I became. I will be angry with you if you shed a single tear because that is not what I want. Grief, pity, and remorse have never been things I wanted. Especially from you. _

_You should know what although I think I have only told you five times total in our five year relationship, I love you. Now and always, I do. And I sincerely hope you can forgive me for this. _

_Yours always, _

_Kyoya Ohtori_

_P.S. You are by far the strongest, most beautiful, intelligent woman I have ever met and I know you will work through this. _

Her entire body shook with silent sobs as the note fluttered from her hand to the floor in front of her. The kitchen floor. Directly where he had fallen. The floor still tinted pink where the cleaning crew hadn't quite been able to remove the bloodstains. She still didn't believe it.

Her mind could only conjure him lying in his own blood. That stupid fucking hole in his head. She saw it everywhere. In her sleep, in her waking, engraved on her eyelids, her very heart. She hurt. The core of her being felt as though someone had town a chunk out of it. Part of her was missing with him. Some part of her was incomplete.

"Haruhi?"

She turned at the sound of her father's voice. Ranka looked absolutely heartbroken for her. "I… I thought you might like some company. Since…" He stopped as his daughter found her way into his arms. She stayed there, clutching the back of his shift, him stroking her hair and mumbling in her ear until she could finally stand on her own. "I don't believe what they say about him, Haruhi."

"Neither did I. Until…" she stopped herself, unable to deal with that thought again.

"No," Ranka said gently. "That's not what I meant. I don't believe he was a coward. Or a murderer. It had to have taken him a great deal of courage to leave you behind. Cowards don't have that kind of courage. And I don't believe that they know the entire story. I think that he left it for you to find."

"He would have just told me…" she whispered, "None of this shitty mind game stuff. None of this… Death. Why should I have to find it? Why would he kill himself if he didn't do it?"

"Because you're the only one who truly understood him, Haruhi. You're the only person he would trust to find the missing pieces."

~o~

**A/N: And another chapter. Fun times. And unfortunately, I don't have any kudos to give out because I didn't get any reviews last chapter. Sad face. What's up with that, guys? But I still deliver. Yes, I know you love me. Now drop a review to show me? **


	4. Chapter 4: Determination

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 4 – Determination_

She vaguely remembered her mother's murder in her dreams. The hazy, dimly lit parking lot that she could see from her kitchen window, fogged by her five-year-old breath as she waited for Kotoko to return home. She would be taking the bus and any minute she would walk around the corner. Haruhi quickly got her coat and shoes and raced back to the window. She waited, bouncing to the sound of her father's chuckles behind her.

And finally she was there. Distractedly carrying the grocery bags in her arms through the pouring rain. Haruhi, heedless of the rain, ran out the door, ducking past her father. She was halfway down the worn wooden steps when the lightning struck and the thunder crashed.

Primal fear coursed through the child and she immediately dropped into a ball, all pursuits of welcoming her mother home forgotten.

The next time she looked up, her mother was in a puddle, the groceries scattered. Apple rolled, noodles lay broken in their plastic bags, and the watery red mixture soaked into the ground around her.

"KOTOKO!" her father screamed in the same instance that the world completely shifted to her running toward the outstretched arms of the man she would never reach.

But somehow, although he was so far away, she still felt the ghost of a kiss come from his lips, his caring touch whispering, "I love you," before being drowned in another thunder clap.

She woke without screaming, without tears. Just breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. Just wanting to get away from the nightmares that plagued her.

"Come find me," the bare remainders of her dreams teased, "Find me, Haruhi." She shook her head and looked around as though someone else were in the room too, waiting with baited breath for her to find them in the shadows.

She drew a shuddering breath, determined not to cry anymore. To be exactly what he wanted from her. The strong, beautiful, intelligent woman he had met 13 years ago. "I love you, too," she mumbled to the empty bedroom. She'd never gotten the chance to say it back. He'd been too quick with the trigger.

She rolled enough to take hold of the note he'd left on her bedside table. His suicide note. His very last words besides the phone call. His thin explanation of why. She drank it in a few times more.

Pieces didn't fit in her head. None of it made sense. Her partner had not been rash nor senseless. He had been framed for murder before and even when they had arrested him he had remained confident in the fact that he was innocent. Even if he had done it, he would have faced prison, had some grand reason for it all. He wasn't a cold-blooded killer. He just wasn't.

"_I don't believe what they say about him." _

She pondered for a moment.

No.

"I don't either," she breathed.

~o~

**A/N: No comments from me this time. Nope. None. None at all. **

**Kudos to Shining Sunny and lilsketcher617. **

**Update on LD should be up soon too. Not today... But soon. **


	5. Chapter 5: Looking

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 5 – Looking_

He kept looking at her. She could feel his dark obsidian eyes boring into the back of her head as they worked. Finally, with a small smile she decided to humor him. "Is there something you needed, Kyoya?" she murmured, sparing him a single glance.

He smirked softly and looked at her. She rose an eyebrow in response but he said nothing, just turned back to the computer in front of him. She rolled her eyes and allowed herself to return to her own work. She looked over scene photos, switching between them with careful hands. She frowned gently as her gloved fingers brushed over the one of the female body.

"Haruhi," Kyoya's deep voice said close to her ear. She refrained from jumping and instead just shook her head when his hand landed on her shoulder. "What's wrong?" he breathed.

"It's so… violent. Angry. They're always so full of rage."

"Not always…" he replied softly.

"Kyoya, how many cases have we ever had that weren't out of anger? Even the accidents are caused by some form of it." She paused long enough to sigh. "I just… Wish that for once we could… Have a break from it. Couldn't it just stop for a single day?"

He licked his lips briefly, thinking, then said, "If that happened we'd be out of a job." She glared at him. He merely gave her a smile. "I'm just saying… If we lived in a society without violence then it would be rather boring. Human nature is violent."

"But this…" She shook her head again. "I don't believe that one man could do this. Especially not the man who married her." She looked up from the pictures to his face. He wasn't looking at her and a sudden feeling of secrecy ran over her. Of the secrets they kept from the world. The few they kept from each other. "Kyoya… I know there's something bothering you. Tell me."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. Did you know them?"

"No… Once a long time ago, I did… But now I can't say I do." Before he had to explain further his beeper went off. She glanced at it as he took it from his belt. He took a deep breath and explained, "Nekozawa's finished the autopsies. Coming with me?"

She shook her head, scowling. He shrugged and started for the door. "Just give me a copy of the reports."

"Of course." He stopped at the door and looked back at her hunched shoulders. She looked back at him smiling quizzically. "Haruhi… Let's go out tonight. When I get back, we'll go to dinner and I'll take you home. Hmm?"

She had to smile at the spontaneous request and nodded. "Don't take too long though. It's getting late." Kyoya stuck his hands in his pockets and continued to the mortuary with a pleased smile. The moment he stepped in he had to stop as the smell of disinfectant assaulted his nostrils.

"Kyoya-san! Come in!" Nekozawa's voice called from the darkened corner where his desk was.

"What do you have?"

"Your preliminary theory was wrong. Ray Takahashi did not kill himself. Appears as such but the trajectory of the bullet through his brain is at a downward angle he wouldn't have naturally achieved. The woman was killed second, tortured looks like, not raped. He fought back but was overcome and shot in the head to look like a suicide."

"Gun used?"

"Glock. 9 mil."

"Same for her?"

"Yes. They were most likely killed by the same person, same weapon. However, despite the brutality of the woman's murder, I think the husband was the source of rage."

"Revenge killing?"

"I may be speculating… But yes. I think it might have been. It's the only thing I can think of that would constitute for this kind of violence."

"Anything else?"

"Small things summarized in the report. Other than that no. I'll keep looking though." A small packet of papers that formed the report was placed in Kyoya's hand. He nodded his head at the coroner in a gesture of thanks as he hurried back up to his and Haruhi's office.

He took her to her favorite restaurant. One that was a bit fancy to her standards but still perfect for a meal. He finished eating before her as normal and resigned himself to watching her finish her seafood platter.

The moment she was finished, he stood and offered his hand for a dance. She almost refused but seeing the gentle look in his eyes she nodded and accepted with a smile.

The hand on her waist held her close while his fingers intertwined with hers. A feeling of contentment washed over her as her head rested on his shoulders. He rotated with her in his spot for a moment before allowing his head to lean against hers, his lips right next to her ear.

"Haruhi… I feel as though I don't say how much you mean to me enough."

She hummed under her breath in disagreement. "You say it every day… Just not verbally."

He chuckled and murmured, "Well… You deserve to hear it every once in a while… I love you."

"And I you," she whispered, her eyes fluttering shut. His hand squeezed hers gently, twirling, spinning them in circles until he finally came to a carefully constructed stop toward the end of the song. His hand left hers briefly, causing her eyes to open.

"Haruhi, will you marry me?" he asked softly.

She drew back slowly to stare at the ring he was holding in his hand, bare of box. Then she looked into his earnest face and merely nodded. "Of course," she said calmly, simply. He pushed the ring on her finger and pulled her into his arms, his chin resting on top of her head.

When she woke the next morning curled up against his bare chest, she just smiled.

~o~

**A/N: I'm failing rather horribly at keeping up my posting schedule for this aren't I? Sorry about that. **

**Still no comments from my end. Course, I also know everything that's going to happen soooo~ **

**Kudos to Rin Hikarii and SkylarkOfTheMoon. **


	6. Chapter 6: Threats

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 6 – Threats_

Kyoya was 11 when the messages started appearing.

Notes in his backpack addressed to his parents. Ones that he looked at but never actually read. He never knew what they said or how they got in his bag, they just appeared.

Letters in the mail that his father looked through with fury.

The first time he brought one to Yoshio, the man read it with narrowed eyes then looked at him sharply. "Where did you get this? Who gave it to you?" he bellowed. Kyoya took a step back and answered while his mother attempted to calm her husband.

"No one gave it to me, Otou-san. I found it in the backpack. I don't know how it got there."

Later, he overheard his parents speaking in the library when they thought he'd gone to bed.

"Yoshio, they're just words. It's fine. Everything's okay."

"How? How did they get to Kyoya and Akito? This is _not _okay, Mayumi! They're threatening my family and going through my sons to prove that they can do as they say."

"They won't."

"How do you know that?"

"Yoshio, if they meant anything by it they would have harmed one of the children by now, not sent more messages in the school bags."

"I don't like it, Mayumi."

"Nor do I. But honestly, Yoshio… The police are working on it. You've increased security and even sent the boys to school with personal body guards. I don't think there's a way to keep them any safer than to lock them in padded, bullet-proof rooms."

"Now that's an idea…"

"Yoshio," his mother warned. His father sighed in defeat. "Get some sleep, love. I'm going to go check on Kyoya. He said he was having trouble sleeping."

When she walked out and found him outside the library door she sighed, not sounding surprised. "Come," she murmured, "To bed, Kyoya."

"Okaa-san, what's going on?" he asked calmly as she led him back to his own bedroom.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Your father's just dealing with a difficult business partner."

Kyoya had pursed his lips and not questioned further, though he was troubled by the lack of information the answer to his question had provided.

And his mother had seemed so tired, more exhausted every day all the way up until his 12th birthday when the world completely changed forever.

~o~

**A/N: This one is super short… So I'm sorry. I'll update again like… next week probably. Actually, the shortness of this one bothers me a lot but merging it with chapter 7 would just throw everything off. **

**Kudos to: lilsketcher617, and Give A Kiss and Say Goodbye. **

**Again, I totally promise that I'll update quicker this time x: Especially since I'm all graduated from high school now~ **


	7. Chapter 7: Reception

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 7 – Reception_

When she had asked Ken to get Kyoya's case file for her, he'd looked at her like she was crazy. "I don't believe it. I can't believe that he was a murderer. Especially without having a reason. I have to know, Ken. I have to."

He looked at her with unending sympathy and nodded his head slowly, easily accepting the explanation without much more trouble. "Don't let Takikara find out," was all he said in way of advice. She swallowed and nodded once sharply, thankful that there was at least one other person who was willing to help.

For days after she sat in her office, sifting through evidence in both the Takahashi murders and Kyoya's own suicide, trying to find some medium between the two. For some reason she kept coming back to his suicide note. As if it were the one thing that tied everything together.

He never said anything about either the murder or suicide directly, which bothered her. If she had no knowledge of what had happened to him she could have assumed that he'd just left her. Except for the 'they' part.

Who were 'they' exactly? The police?

But the police didn't fit with being in a place he couldn't see her. In prison, she'd be able to visit.

_I never wanted to bring you into it. _

It. He used ambiguous terms quite frequently in the note. 'It.' 'They.' Things that could be taken as a reference to just about anything.

"Come on, Haruhi…" she whispered to herself, "What are you missing?"

Kyoya had shot himself with the same 9 mil glock that was his service weapon. The same gun that had killed the Takahashis.

Had anyone actually even tested that? She made a note to ask the twins to run Kyoya's gun against the bullets in the Takahashis just to make sure.

It wasn't until later when she was sorting through his office things to see what she wanted to keep that things began to fall into place.

She came across it completely on accident. Wouldn't have even known it was there if it hadn't fallen out of one of his old ledgers.

A note. A small square note with a circular black sticker holding the folds together. Gently, curiously, she opened it and read.

_Hey Ohtori, how'd you like that present? You know you better reign in that old man of yours. He's trouble for both of us. _

_-K _

She frowned at it. Ambiguous. Signed by a letter that probably only held significance to Kyoya. She set down the small note on the bed for safe-keeping and opened the ledger, pawing through it.

At first she didn't make sense of the Japanese characters written on the page in his messy scrawl. Nor the pictures that accompanied them. Then when she got to newspaper clippings of their solved cases, she began to understand. "A scrapbook…" It was a scrapbook of his memories all the way back from when his mother had died onward.

The further back she got, the more overwhelmed she became. Then the same small notes with black stickers started showing up among the pictures and newspaper clippings, pushed haphazardly between the pages. She took them out in order, and read them slowly.

_Your old man's really starting to piss me off, Ohtori. Better do as I say or someone's going to get a cut throat. _

_-K_

_This really isn't the time for you to ignore me. If anything, you should acknowledge the fact that I'm here, and I'm watching. _

_-K_

_Why'd you kill the Takahashis? I thought they were lovely people. And they were even proven innocent, unlike you. _

_-K_

_Admit defeat, Ohtori, or Daddy's gonna pay. _

_-K_

_Or perhaps, even better, your sister. _

_-K_

_Or your niece. _

_-K_

_Or your entire family. That sounds like the best. _

_-K_

All of them. Threats. Signed by K. Threats against him and his family. For what purpose? And who was it? Who could possibly hate Kyoya's family that much?

They started before the Takahashis murder, growing more and more frequent and menacing the further into the investigation they got. She covered her mouth, at last becoming overwhelmed with the knowledge being presented to her. Then she let out a muffled sob as she pushed it all away from her, as far as she could off the bed, and fell back on the mattress.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

**A/N: Yo! A week later as promised! Summer has come and graduation as passed. Woohoo. Now I just need to pack all this STUFF into boxes… **

**Kudos to: SmartApple for being the ONLY reviewer last chapter! Though it was only a week… I don't blame you guys. **


	8. Chapter 8: Secret

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 8 – Secret_

He'd always thought that the people who said that history always repeated itself were crazy… Until it started happening to him.

The day he received the first note from a department messenger, he did his best to school his features so Haruhi wouldn't notice. He loved her so the last thing he wanted was to bring her into his past. He didn't want her to worry about him.

When he took in the words he didn't let himself react, just slipped it into his pocket for safe keeping. He'd have to talk to his father later.

He nearly jumped in surprise when Haruhi's hands landed on his shoulders and started working away knots in his muscles. He couldn't stop the soft groan from leaving his mouth as he leaned his head back against her stomach, his eyes fluttering shut. "You shouldn't work so hard," she breathed, pressing her lips to his gently. "Let's go home."

He nodded and gathered his things to leave with his girlfriend.

He completely forgot about the note until she brought it up over dinner. "What was the note?" she called from the kitchen while she finished making dinner.

"Ah…" he muttered, remembering now. "Just Takikara reminding me of some paperwork."

"Oh?" She popped her head out of the kitchen to gaze at him. "What case?"

"Charity's."

"I thought I finished that…"

"Not my account."

She hummed lightly in consent and returned to the stove. He brought a hand to his head and rubbed his temples. Lying to her hurt him more than he could possibly describe. But this definitely wasn't something that he could tell her. Not if he wanted her to stay alive.

Haruhi pecked his cheek as she sat down at the table with two plates filled with food. "Shouldn't be too hard for you."

"What?"

"The Charity paperwork?"

"Oh. Yes. I'll probably finish sometime tomorrow."

She'd looked at him suspiciously. Like she knew that something else was going on. "Kyoya, what's distracting you?"

He chuckled. "Haruhi, my dear, I think the only thing that has ever had the ability to distract me is you."

She pointed her fork at him. "Don't you lie to me."

"I'm not," he said gently, "Really. Everything's fine. And I'd never have any reason to lie to you unless it was for your own protection."

She scoffed lightly and stared at him like she could grab the information out of his brain if she looked at him long enough. Then she sighed and gave up. "We're having breakfast with Dad tomorrow, don't forget."

"Of course. I'll be having lunch with my father sometime this week though, just so you know."

She frowned for a moment. "Why?"

He used information that he – thank God – had not told her yet. "Akito's engaged. Again. This lunch is basically Yuiichi, father and I trying to decide if this one will last."

"Didn't his last marriage end like three months ago?" He merely nodded. "Which one is this?"

"Five."

"How is it that we can manage to be in a steady relationship for nearly five years and not even talk about marriage but your brother can't even make a marriage last a year let alone take six months in between?"

He shrugged, a bit startled by the fact that she'd bought up marriage in reference to their relationship. "Did you want to get married?"

She stared at him then shrugged slowly. "Eventually. No rush though. Besides, Tamaki just got through freaking out over Hikaru's engagement and Kaoru's wedding. I think he'd have a heart attack if we were to suddenly just decide to get married right now."

"So… Eventually. That's… Interesting."

She seemed flustered, which he smirked at, taking her hand – which effectively distracted her from her half-finished plate of food. "I'm not really hungry anymore," he said quietly.

That had to be one of the most distracting things he could ever say.

He thought that it might just be a fluke in the system when he relooked at it the next morning before Haruhi was out of the shower. And that's all it was until it happened again.

And again.

And again.

Each one was slightly different. Each delivered a different way. However, he didn't pay much attention to it until they showed up at the apartment. With his nieces when they came to visit. And even once, he spotted one in Haruhi's jacket pocket when she got home.

Right after the Takahashis had been killed was when he finally decided to go visit his father.

"Who are they?"

His father had swallowed, the one sign that he was nervous. "I don't know."

"Bullshit. How can you not know? You got the same exact notes 24 years ago. Who. Are. they?"

"They can't be stopped, Kyoya. And no one knows who they are. Not even my surveillance team. They can't be stopped. If they've set their sights on you then…"

"No," Kyoya growled, "No. Because you see… They aren't after _me. _It's _you_. Something you're doing they don't like and they expect me to stop you. So stop. Whatever you're doing just stop before it gets your granddaughters or one of your children killed."

When he had gotten home that night, Haruhi had looked at his shaken appearance with worry but hadn't questioned.

She never questioned.

She always worried.

Perhaps, this time though, it was warranted.

~o~

**A/N: A bit later than I intended, sorry! Got preoccupied with moving and camp and such. I'm back, I swear. Working both on this, LD, and a few random little one-shots that came to mind. **

**Kudos to: Smartapple, MarinaStryke, and LittleLiar666. **


	9. Chapter 9: Circle

_The Memory of Murder_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 9 - Circle_

She stared at the autopsy report in front of her. Then at the photos of evidence from the apartment. Her eyes scanned through everything, memorizing details, looking for connections. The four imprints in the carpet of the bedroom where she supposed that Ray Takahashi was forced to sit and watched his wife be tortured. The red marks on his wrists suggested that he'd been tied up. A chair showed definite signs of the finish being rubbed off by rope.

What she didn't understand was why? Why would someone do this? What _motive _was there to barging into someone's home, torturing the woman and killing her then killing the husband?

She scowled and looked through Ray Takahashi's record again. He'd been charged with different crimes at different points in his life. One murder that went to trial and he was found not guilty, a couple petty thefts, nothing too glaring. Certainly nothing that suggested the man had enemies. He had no siblings, his parents were dead. He wasn't associated to any gangs to her knowledge - it was unlikely anyway considering that his wife was a lawyer.

What was she missing?

She scanned through the photos again. This time her eyes caught on one of a shoe print on the floor. It didn't belong to a single shoe that the couple owned, which meant it belonged to either the killer or a recent visitor. She zoomed in and cleared up the image the best that she could on the computer screen. They'd taken a print of it too of course, but she didn't need the print to recognize it.

She felt a feeling of dread begin to overwhelm her. Not again. She was not doing this again. She braced her hands against the desk for a moment. Slowly, she forced herself to look up the type of gun that had killed the Takahashis.

_9 mil Glock_.

The very same. Her heart rate increased slightly. No. It couldn't be him. He had no reason. There had to have been more 9 mil Glocks in the country than just his.

Even so, it was just two pieces of evidence. It was merely a suggestion, not a conviction…

Right?

"What have you got, Haruhi?"

She jumped and forced herself not to turn around whirling. She shut the current window on the computer screen, shut the file folder in front of her and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"Haruhi?"

She turned and faced him slowly, willing herself to look normal.

"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine," she said, forcing her voice to remain stable. Her fiancé raised an eyebrow and strode forward to take the file from her. She pushed it out of his grasp. Now he was looking at her with a strange, confused look that seemed to be a bit calculating. She looked back him, gaze guarded. "Haruhi?" he asked cautiously.

"I want you to tell me the truth," she stated slowly, clearly. "Do you know the Takahashis?"

"I told you. I knew them once a long time ago. Not anymore."

"Kyoya," she growled, "How did you know them?"

"Through my parents," he answered softly. "They… used to be associated with them."

She stared at him as though staring long enough would show her the truth of his words. "Okay… Were you there recently?"

"Where?"

"Their apartment. Did you visit them recently before they were murdered?"

A small frown came to his face. "Haruhi, what's this about?"

"Answer the question, Kyoya." She set her jaw. She wasn't going to let him get away with avoiding her questions any longer.

"No," he said softly, narrowing his eyes slightly at her. "No. I wasn't there. I haven't seen or heard from the Takahashis since my mother's death."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Why would I lie?" She sighed and let her shoulders relax. "What did you find that set off this interrogation of _me_?"

Another horrifying thought entered her mind, tensing her again. He hadn't been home that night. The night the Takahashis were killed, he hadn't been home. She couldn't remember what he'd told her, but he wasn't with her. "Wait… Where were you the night they were killed?"

"Why are you asking _me _this?"

"Please just answer me."

"I was visiting Mother."

"No one else was with you?"

"No."

She swore, her mind racing. He had no alibi, his shoe print was in the house, and his service weapon was the same kind of gun as the murder weapon. She felt her heart begin to drop as she caught sight of the ring on her finger.

Had she agreed to marry a murderer?

She shook the thought from her head immediately. No. Kyoya was not capable of murder. Not of that kind.

She forced herself to calm down so she could think about this a little more.

"I think you need to be taken off this case," she said, almost swearing when she realized how shaky her voice and knees were.

"Why?"

"Because I think you just became a suspect."

~o~

He chased her down the hall as she took her bag and hurried out of the building. "What the hell does that mean?" he demanded, taking hold of her elbow and yanking her to a stop. "What did you find?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," she replied briskly, though it killed her to not be able to share with him.

"Haruhi, what did you find?" She just shook her head and pulled her arm from his grasp. "I might be able to defend my own innocence if I know what the hell it is that you think means _I'm _the killer!"

She turned around and caught herself with tears building in her eyes. She forced them back and looked him straight in the face. "The tread of your shoe is on their kitchen floor. Your service weapon is the same as the murder weapon. You claim that you haven't seen them in 24 years but you have no reliable alibi because no one was with you. Kyoya, I know _for a fact _that you own the same kind of pocket knife that tortured Chiyoko Takahashi."

He blinked a few times and let his hand drop from her arm. She could just see the gears in his brain working. Then his jaw set. "I didn't kill them. I wasn't even there. I don't know how my shoe tread ended up in that apart- How do you even know it's my shoe?"

"Kyoya, I'd recognize the Hitachiin designer symbol anywhere."

"Other people own Hitachiin shoes!"

"No. Not _your _designer shoes."

"You can't actually believe this."

"I don't want to," she admitted, "But…"

"_Why _would I kill the Takahashis? _WHY_?"

"I don't know." He stared at her for a moment. She let out a slow breath and whispered, "I'm sorry. I really am. I just… I'm following evidence, Kyoya."

He got that look on his face. The one where she knew he was so angry that he just shut out every other expression with a blank slate. "I've got to go," he growled, "Dunno if I'll be home for dinner or not."

"Kyoya, I have to go to the DA."

He waved her off as he strode away determinedly.

She hoped that he wouldn't dig himself into a deeper hole.

~o~

**A/N: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN. Bet none of you ever got in a fight with your significant other over whether or not they were a murderer. **

**Clarifying point: Just because the twins are not in the designer business in this does not mean that their **_**mother **_**isn't. Aha. **

**Sorry this took so long, I got a wee bit stuck. And then I went through and wrote this entire thing in like… an hour and a half. You're welcome. **

**Kudos to: MarinaStryke. Thank you, very much. Without you, this chapter probably wouldn't have been written for a least another week.**

**Oh! Go check out my author Facebook if you want! I'm posting updates there and you can friend me or message me or whatever you want! Link's on my profile! **


	10. Chapter 10: Death

_The Memory of Murder _

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 10 - Death_

It was silent in the house when he entered it, something that wasn't normal, even when the servants were sent away for the day. His mother was always up to something and by this time of day his sister would _surely _be getting into trouble - hopefully not with _his _dresser - practicing to be the perfect housewife for her fiance. He scowled. "Mother! I'm home!"

There was no answer. Yes it was a big house, but surely someone…?

He shrugged and took his shoes off. Perhaps she was sleeping. She tended to do that during the day a lot more lately for reasons that neither of his parents would disclose to him. He climbed the staircase at a sluggish pace, glad to be home after a tiring day at school.

He passed the door to his parents room without even thinking about waking her to tell her he was home. He found Fuyumi in his bedroom, messing with the clothes in his dresser - the exact thing he had hoped wouldn't happen. He bit back a groan. "Nee-san," he said coolly, "What are you doing?"

"Kyoya-kun!" she exclaimed rising from her place on the floor and running over to give him a hug. He glared at her and she stopped in her tracks, a pout on her face. "What? You're 12 now so you're too old for hugs?"

"No. You're deliberately making a mess of my bedroom_. That_ is why I'm punishing you without a hug." Her pout vanished and her glare appeared. "You know that I don't like you digging in my drawers."

"I need practice!" she defended hotly, "You _know _I do!"

He snorted. "Practice cannot fix what one never had, Nee-san."

"Kyoya! That's so mean!"

He chuckled and avoided her as she swatted at him with the back of her hand. When she had finally calmed down he murmured, "I'd really just prefer if you let the maids handle it." She rolled her eyes with a huff but otherwise didn't do anything. "Where's Okaa-san?"

"Sleeping last I checked."

"Ah." So it _was _as he had thought. "Why is she sleeping so much lately?"

"I don't know," Fuyumi murmured, a frown lighting her face, "I overheard Otou-san say something about her not being able to sleep very well lately." She nodded her head a bit as she spoke then added as an afterthought, "And that would probably also explain why he's been in such a sour mood. If Mother's not sleeping then Father probably isn't either." Kyoya frowned and decided it was best not to bother her then. "Do you need help with your homework?"

He snorted humorously. "Fuyumi, when's the last time I needed help with my homework?"

She shot a dirty look at him on her way out of his room. "I'll be in the library if you need me."

"Don't mess it up too much or Father will have your head!" he called after her. He just barely heard her replying 'humpf.'

It was when he was in the middle of his science homework that he heard the gunshot. He jumped, startled, then got up and ran into the hall. Fuyumi came running down from the library minutes later. "Did you hear that?" she asked, concerned. A security personal appeared at the far end of the main hall, hurrying toward them.

"Yes," he replied, feeling all the blood rush from his face, "It sounded like…"

"It came from Mother's room?" Fuyumi finished for him, her face equally pale. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"I'm home!" a call came from the main entry way. Akito's voice. He was finally home from his after school activities. Knowing his family's schedule, Yuiichi would be home within 10 minutes and his father about half an hour after that if he was running a little ahead of schedule - which was quite often.

Fuyumi and Kyoya left Akito to the security and ran to their mother's room, despite the fact that the guard that had been coming toward them was now yelling at them not to move anywhere for their own safety. Fuyumi stopped as soon as she opened the door, staring into the dimly lit bedroom with a look torn between shock and horror. Kyoya, annoyed with her lack of response, pushed her aside and stepped in.

"Kyoya-" Fuyumi tried to grab for his shoulder as he lurched forward.

"Mother?" He didn't want to believe what the blood on the carpet was telling him. The gun that laid on the floor just a foot away from where he fell to his knees, unable to tear his eyes away from Mayumi's face. There was a hole in her head. A bloody hole that had torn the flesh of the side of her head. Her eyes were wide open and staring at nothing. He gripped her face in his hand and swallowed. "Mother?" he called again, helplessly.

"Kyoya," Fuyumi said, her voice wavering due to what he was sure were tears. "I-I don't th-think she can hear-hear you."

"Yes she can," he said slowly, though his mouth was dry, "Of course she can. She's just…" He trailed off. His mother had played a lot of tricks on him and his siblings over the years, but she'd never played dead before.

He felt something wet on his face with his hand before he even realized he was crying.

Akito had arrived seconds after. He bent his head and let himself openly sob. Yuiichi just 2 minutes after that. Both were equally shocked to find Mayumi Ohtori dead in her bedroom.

His father had come last, an hour early - something that never _ever _happened.

Kyoya never would forget the look on his father's face at seeing his wife dead on the floor.

The memory flashed through his mind as he pulled the small folded slip of paper off his and Haruhi's bed. The same circular black circle holding the folds shut. With shaking hands he pulled it apart and glanced over the words.

_Turn yourself in or we'll kill your precious fiance, Fujioka Haruhi. _

_-K_

He sat down heavily, still holding the note and put his head in his hands.

Haruhi. They were going to kill Haruhi.

Unless he protected her.

~o~

**A/N: This entire chapter I was alternating listening to This Is Gallifrey and Doomsday from the Doctor Who soundtracks. Just a fun little fact. Both of them set the mood at different places in this. I like it. **

**YES! ACTUALLY MANAGED TO PASS 1000 WORDS FOR THIS CHAPTER! This makes me feel slightly accomplished even though the point was for this one to have shorter ones… **

**Kudos to: Give A Kiss and Say Goodbye. **

**You guys will have to step up your reviewer game if you want to motivate me to write more chapters. I KNOW there are more of you out there! I don't care if it's the simplest little thing, **_**leave a review please**_**. It brightens my day to know that people actually enjoy what I'm putting out there. **


	11. Chapter 11: Trial

_The Memory of Murder _

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 11 - Trial_

After his mother's death, his father had sent every man available out on a man hunt. Even when the autopsy for his wife came back saying that it was possible that she had committed suicide.

Yoshio was not so quick as to believe that his wife would do such a thing as leave her husband and children. There was even a note written in her handwriting, signed by her, complete with tear stains on the paper. It said only seven words.

_I'm so sorry. I love you all. _

No explanation. Just an apology. Everyone else in the world was convinced that Mayumi had killed herself because of the pressure of marrying into the Ohtori family. Yoshio and her children knew better.

"Even if she had done it, she wouldn't have when we were home," Kyoya told his father plainly. Yoshio had merely stared at his youngest son through his spectacles, a prompt for him to continue. "The gun was yours. She wouldn't have used _your _gun. It would place blame on you. She wouldn't have wanted you to think it was your fault. In fact, I don't think she would have used a firearm at all. If anything, she would have overdosed on some drug. Further, she wasn't even depressed _or _suicidal."

"I'm aware of all this, Kyoya," the elder Ohtori stated when he had finished.

"Then why aren't you _doing _anything about it?" the younger demanded angrily. His mother was _dead _and he had a feeling it had something to do with those notes he'd been receiving from that 'difficult business partner' his mother had once mentioned to him.

"I'm doing everything I can." Kyoya was silent, glaring at his father. Then Yoshio spoke again softly, "The gun wasn't mine. It looked like mine and it was the same kind but it wasn't mine. Mine was still locked up in the safe."

"So… She didn't…"

"Of course she didn't," Yoshio snapped. "Your mother was not stupid enough to think that ending her life was the solution to all her problems. She was not depressed. At most she had insomnia." Then he seemed to realize that he was talking to his 12-year-old son about his mother's suicide. "Why are you even thinking about this, Kyoya? You must focus on your studies."

He'd been dismissed before he could utter another word on the matter.

~o~

The local police had minimal participation in the investigation. The majority was carried out by the Ohtori Private Police. They were owned by his father, paid by his father, and were ordered through his father directly. Nothing escaped the Ohtori patriarch's notice.

And, since Kyoya has begun to suspect foul play, he put his rusty hacking skills to use so that he, too, could see everything that his father did.

It was a literal man-hunt. Every officer in the Ohtori Police was to be on duty 24/7 until the culprit was caught. They kept searching even after the local police had given up and come to the conclusion that it really was a suicide. The bedroom that Mayumi had died in was closed off and wasn't to be touched by anyone.

Even Kyoya in his mini-investigation hadn't dared set foot in that room again.

It took months. And those months turned into a year before the man the Ohtori Private Police force believed was the murderer was caught. It was only three months before Kyoya's 14th birthday and three after he had met Tamaki Suoh at school.

Kyoya, while reading the text message forwarded to him by his sister in class, stopped writing abruptly.

_Caught him. Ray Takahashi. Trial this weekend. _

Tamaki glanced over at him. "_Mon ami_?" he questioned quietly. The Ohtori swallowed. He hadn't talked to the blonde much about his family or his mother. "Kyoya, are you alright?"

"Fine," he muttered after taking in a shuddering breath. He would, of course, excuse himself after this class. His sister would want him to stay at school, but he couldn't possibly bear to be there with this new knowledge.

His family had been mourning for a little over a year, himself included though he didn't allow himself to show it. That mourning finally might be able to end with the justice served.

But of course, Tamaki wouldn't let him go home alone. Not without some resemblance of an explanation that Kyoya couldn't possibly begin to give. "_Mon ami_, what's wrong? Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Why?"

He paused for a single beat then said, "Family emergency."

Tamaki scowled. "Do you need me to come with you?"

"No, Tamaki."

"Are you sure?"

They were standing outside his limo by now. Half the girls in their class looking curiously through the gates at the two of them. If he were to just refuse him, the blonde would no doubt be unable to control his gossiping urges. He rubbed his forehead. He really didn't want the entire school to find out about this. They already knew that there was some tragedy in his family, they didn't know exactly what, but they knew something was going on.

"Fine," Kyoya muttered finally, "You can come. As long as you don't ask me _anything_, got it?" Tamaki nodded exuberantly and bounded after him into the limo.

The limo was filled with silence until they were nearly there. Then Kyoya, feeling slightly uneasy at the idea of bringing Tamaki into his house when his family was probably in emotional turmoil, decided best to offer some kind of explanation. "Tamaki… This… My family is most likely not going to be particularly receptive to your presence." He nodded as though he understood the situation completely. "My mother… She was murdered about a year ago… And… They've caught the person who did it."

"Ah," Tamaki said quietly, shifting uncomfortably as they pulled up to the Ohtori mansion.

"I don't mean to make you uncomfortable… It's just… something you should be aware of if you talk to my family."

Tamaki didn't talk to them though. He didn't talk to anyone, just remained by his side as the perfect image of a supportive friend. The only time that he wasn't, Kyoya wasn't particularly bothered until he found him sitting at the grand piano in one of the sitting rooms, fingers flying over the keys in a melody that the Ohtoris didn't recognize.

Yet, the way he played with such emotion brought his sister to tears. And soon his entire family was gathered in the room, standing in doorways or sitting in chairs. Kyoya was surprised to find even his father standing near the door from the dining room and turned his full attention to the blonde at the piano.

He didn't even realize how touching the music was until he himself felt tears running down his cheeks. He bent his head to hide his face from his family.

The music reminded him of his mother.

That reminder of his mother nearly ripped out his heart.

~o~

**A/N: Yes this is a scene from the manga/anime and yes I have stretched it to encompass my scenario and I'm **_**extremely **_**proud of myself for it. I hope things are beginning to come together. **

**I apologize to everyone who's been waiting for LD but college is hitting me harder than I expected it to. I'll try to update within the next week or two. No promises though. **

**Kudos to: 93. **


	12. Chapter 12: Connection

_The Memory of Murder _

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 12 - Connection_

Haruhi nearly didn't believe it when she discovered the connection between her former fiancé and the murdered couple that he had been accused of killing. Suddenly everything made a bit more sense. Why he had looked so _happy _when he'd found out that it was the Takahashis.

In her hand she held an old court file. She shouldn't have even had access to it but Kyoya's eldest brother had used his decided influence to get it sent to her. She swallowed as she took in the details of a trial that had taken place 23 years in the past.

And at the very top the names listed made her feel sick to her stomach as she came to the realization that the proof of Kyoya's murder motive was sitting in her hands.

_Defendant: Takahashi Ray defended by Takahashi Chiyoko_

_Prosecution: Tokyo PD on behalf of Ohtori Yoshio _

_Offense in question: 1st degree murder - victim Ohtori Mayumi_

Haruhi closed her eyes and dropped the file, unable to read any further. "Stupid," she whispered, rubbing her eyes angrily. "You stupid, stupid man." However, she repeated to herself again that Kyoya Ohtori had never been a murderer, nor was he a man who acted on petty revenge notions. There was something else here. She glanced over the list of witnesses that had been called for both sides.

_Crown, Victor - Defense _

_Takahashi, Chiyoko - Defense _

_Che, Raine - Defense _

_Che, Kitsu - Defense _

_Karter, Valence - Offense _

_Tachibana, Seizaburo- Offense _

_Ohtori, Kyoya - Offense _

_Ohtori, Fuyumi - Offense _

She swallowed as she came across Kyoya and Fuyumi's names on the witness lists. And then, at the very back of the file, there was a small card. Her heart stopped for a brief moment at its familiarity. Her hands shook as she took hold of it and popped open the faded black seal.

_Your son is rather intuitive, Yoshio. Much like you. Though that is not getting you anywhere that you want to go, nor will it ever. _

_-K _

The realization took hold of her all at once. Kyoya was not responsible for this. His father had been receiving the same threats he'd been getting in the weeks before the Takahashis were murdered. Her breath got caught on the lump in her throat as she picked up her phone and dialed a number that she had never actually needed to call herself.

It was answered on the third ring. "Ohtori Yoshio's office. Mai speaking."

She swallowed. "I need to speak with Yoshio immediately. It's regarding his son's death."

~o~

Yoshio, much like his son would have, didn't react at all to the file she placed on his desk. "Fujioka-san, you said this was urgent."

"You made no mention of the threats you were receiving in the trial for your wife's murder."

The Ohtori froze, staring at her. "How… did you come across that information?"

She flipped through the file until she found the faded note. "I found this. About a month ago, I found similar ones in Kyoya's scrapbook. They'd apparently been coming in for months before he supposedly murdered two people and killed himself." She swallowed, feeling the emotions of the situation grip her. "I think he was framed. He was framed and murdered himself or forced to fire the gun that killed him. Something forced him. I need to know who wrote these notes."

"Kyoya approached me when he started getting them. I'll tell you the same as I told him. I don't know who it is. Just that they are an enemy of the Ohtori family and they are not to be trifled with."

"Give me a list of your enemies then."

Yoshio let out a sharp bark of laughter. "My dear child," he stated, "Do you have any idea how long of a list that would be?"

"I don't care. I'm not going to rest until I find out who did this and prove that Kyoya was innocent all along. I can't live with the accusation being held over my head that I was engaged to marry a murderer."

Yoshio contemplated her in silence for a while then nodded his head. "I shall compile a list for you though I'm not sure where it will get you."

"Thank you."

The man was quiet again and she almost thought she'd been silently dismissed already. She was turning to leave his office when he spoke again, "There's only one thing I can think of that anyone could say to make my son kill himself."

"What?"

"A threat on your life."

Haruhi's brown eyes bore into the eyes of Yoshio Ohtori, the very eyes that Kyoya had inherited. Then she closed them and drew in a deep breath, not wanting to think about the implications of what had just been said. "Thank you, sir. Have a good day," she muttered stiffly, letting herself out abruptly.

As she sat down in her car, a sob fell unwillingly from her lips.

~o~

Haruhi had always known that the Ohtoris were not always a well-liked family due to the nature of their business and how easily they monopolized it. She also knew that on occasion the patriarch had taken part in what seemed to be shadier business ventures. However, nothing could have prepared her for the length of the list that was emailed to her a week later.

She let out a breath of frustration as she scanned over some of the names.

Several known yakuza members stood out among the high class families whom the Ohtoris had been feuding with for decades. Finally, there was a single name that popped out at her. A person known only as _Karashi_. She stared at it, feeling certain that this was it.

She pulled the files of Mayumi Ohtori's murder without bothering to cover up her tracks. The bare minimum was in the files but still, she looked. It had been concluded that Mayumi had killed herself and that no one was at fault, but still Haruhi looked, staring at the records of Ray and Chiyoko's financials over the weeks surrounding Mayumi's death.

She found it odd to realize that they had been receiving weekly payments of 26,725 yen from two different accounts on the same day every week for four months beginning two months before the death and ending two months after it.

Why hadn't anyone caught this the first time?

Of course, it could have been a mere coincidence of Chiyoko's and Ray's paydays lining up but the fact that the salary was exactly the same - consistent - for both of them every single week bothered her.

She got on her computer and traced the account numbers, finding that they lead to dead ends as they weren't open anymore. Nonetheless she took down the names that had been previously attached to them and closed out the window.

_Che Kitsu_.

_Che Raine._

She stared at the name. They had been a witness, hadn't they? She rechecked the witness list and blinked several times. Che Kitsu was indeed on the witness list for the murder of Mayumi Ohtori. For the defense. And Ray's employer was listed as Che Kitsu and Che Raine. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and concentration.

But the Ches weren't on the list of Ohtori enemies.

"Fujioka."

She jumped at the angry voice that came from her office door. In strode Sheriff Takikara, looking at her like she'd done something horribly wrong. "Sheriff," Haruhi acknowledged lightly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Pulling the files for the Ohtori cases. _Both _of them. Mayumi Ohtori was a suicide and Kyoya Ohtori was a murderer who committed suicide, Fujioka. There isn't anything else. I don't know what you think you're doing but-"

"They weren't suicides."

"Excuse me?"

"Both of them. They weren't suicides." When Takikara merely snorted and started shaking her head, Haruhi plowed on. "Ohtori Yoshio was receiving threats in the form of white cards sealed with circular black stickers from an unknown family enemy for nearly a year before Mayumi's death. I found the same kinds of threats among Kyoya's things a little more than a month ago. He'd been getting them for months before the Takahashis were murdered."

"And you know this because…?"

"We lived together," she stated plainly.

"Against regulations."

"Does it matter now? He's dead for heaven's sake. I didn't even find out about them until _after _he died in _our _apartment I might add. Do you know the nightmares I have staying in that place and knowing that it's where he died?" She shook her head at her own tangent and got back to the matter at hand. "I was looking at the files of the trial for Mayumi's murder. Ray Takahashi is the defendant with his wife as his lawyer."

"Gives your boy motive then."

"But it isn't a motive. Even if he went free. Kyoya became a cop because his mother's murderer was never brought to justice and he didn't want that to ever happen to someone else's family. He wouldn't have murdered someone as revenge 24 years later when knowing full well that it wouldn't feel like proper justice. The notes are the key here, Takikara. It's not a coincidence that the same notes from Kyoya's childhood started showing up in his own home before he is framed for murder."

"He _wasn't framed_."

"Will you just _listen _to me? I'm explaining to you exactly _why _he's innocent!" She took a deep breath and didn't give her superior a chance to refute her. "The notes are all signed with a simple K. Around the time of Ohtori Mayumi's murder Takahashi Ray was receiving payments of 53,450 yen split between two accounts at an even half from each. This occurred consistently every Tuesday for four months. The accounts trace back to Che Kitsu and Che Raine."

"I believe it was determined that those were the payments of his _salary _from his employers, _Che Kitsu and Che Raine_."

"No," Haruhi said softly. "No. They're the same family. If they were simply paying him, they wouldn't have needed to pay him from two different accounts. And the pay period would have been longer than four months. I believe he's listed as being employed by them for two years? Yet he's only paid for two four month periods that entire time. And what was his job exactly?"

Takikara, though not exactly convinced yet did seem skeptical now of what was occurring.

"It brings up a shadow of doubt in Ohtori Mayumi's case, you have to admit that. Doubt that it _was _a suicide between the threats and the payments to the accused murderer."

"Yes, but it doesn't _prove _anything for your boy."

Haruhi took a deep breath and let it out slowly before making her next argument. "There is only one thing that would make Kyoya kill himself instead of letting himself be arrested."

"Oh?"

"A direct threat to my life. If, for some reason, he thought it would keep me safe if he died, then he'd do it."

"You think that Ohtori killed himself… To protect you? From _what_?"

"The sender of the notes. I asked his father about the threats and asked him to send me a list of family enemies that could have sent them."

"And?"

"I have yet to find anything connected to it, but I'm sure, I'm _positive _that if you let me keep searching then I will be able to prove that Kyoya did _not _murder the Takahashis."

Takikara's lips pursed for a single instant before she sighed and muttered, "Fine. You have a week. _One week_, Fujioka. Not an hour more. And if you don't find anything after that, I'm pulling the plug. I need you focused elsewhere."

"Thank you."

The sheriff merely shook her head and stalked out of the room.

~o~

**A/N: Heeeeeeeyooooooo! Been a while hasn't it? But happy new year anyway! To make up for the absence as well as to celebrate, you get an extra-long chapter! Yay! It's twice as long as normal! Just 6 or 7 chapters left now. **

**Kudos to: AnimeApprentice and xXSimplyMagicalXx.**

**For those of you waiting on LD, never fear. I haven't been sitting on my bum all this time. In fact, I wrote this chapter completely today AND finished off the next chapter for LD. So you shall be getting your Christmas/New Years' presents. Don't you fret. Also, yes. Next chapter you will get all the nitty-gritty details of Ray Takahashi's trial. Just wait. Patience is virtue my friends. **


	13. Chapter 13: Depression

_The Memory of Murder _

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 13 - Depression _

The courtroom was cold and not just in a sense of the temperature. Kyoya pulled his coat tighter around him. He sat between his sister and his father in the very front row of the spectators. The jury was off to the side in their own rows. Ray Takahashi - the man who'd murdered his mother - sat on one side of the court room at a table with his lawyer sitting next to him. He knew this set up only too well.

His father did not allow any press into the courtroom. They were a private family and the affairs related to his wife's death were not going to be broadcast to the world regardless of the outcome.

Kyoya stared at the back of Takahashi's head like he could put a hole in it just like the man had put a hole in his mother's. They were going through witnesses, examining and cross-examining. He felt like he'd been sitting there for hours listening to the lawyers make claims and counter-claims, debating back and forth the validity of the facts put before the court from either side.

Finally the prosecuting lawyer said clearly, "The prosecution calls Ohtori Kyoya to the stand."

He froze for a single moment and his sister squeezed his hand. His father glanced at him, his face set in a grim line. Yoshio had told him that if he didn't want to he didn't have to let himself be examined as a witness. His sister had even said that she could cover all of it if he didn't want to.

But he wanted to do this. He wanted to be part of the reason that Ray Takahashi went to prison. He wanted to be a part of the justice system.

So he stood, letting his sister's hand drop as he did so and strode to the front of the room, a mask of indifference on his face so he could have a level head when dealing properly with the situation. He was sworn in and took his seat at the witness's stand.

The prosecution, of course, got the first crack at him. "You discovered the body, didn't you, Kyoya-san?" This lawyer was smart enough not to add the -chan suffix to his name. Good.

"Correct," Kyoya said stiffly.

"Can you, for the court, run through everything you experienced that day?"

He nodded and swallowed. How do you put to words finding your mother dead? He chose his words carefully. "I came home from school that day like I always do and went to my room to do my homework. My sister was there but she soon left for the library."

"Where was your mother?"

"In my parents' room. Sleeping." He paused, waiting to see if there would be another question. When there wasn't, he continued. "I'd been working for about an hour when I heard a crack like a gunshot coming from down the hall. I was startled and couldn't move for perhaps a minute at most before I ran into the hall. Nee-san joined me seconds later because she had heard it too. We looked at each other and had a very short conversation where we discerned that it had sounded like a gunshot coming from mother's room.

"My brother, Akito, got home right as we were running into her bedroom. Fuyumi stopped after seeing it first and tried to shield me from it but I pushed her aside. And-" He stopped because he couldn't manage. He'd lost the mask that he'd had on as images of his mother dancing around in his head, taunting him. He couldn't, didn't want, to admit that his mother was actually dead. A year and a half later and he still couldn't come to terms with the empty feeling that encompassed his house when he got home now.

"And, Kyoya-san?"

"She was dead."

The courtroom was silent. Then the lawyer, very gently, as though he _knew _what was going through his head, asked, "Can you describe the scene for us?"

When he closed his eyes to try and gather his composure again the defense lawyer, taking apparent pity on him called, "He's a 14-year-old boy! For heaven's sake!"

"He can choose not to answer the question," the prosecution shot back, "I'm not going to force it out of him."

"No," Kyoya spoke firmly, "No. I'll answer it, just… Give me a moment." He drew in a deep breath and took a look at his family. His eldest brother and his wife sat at one end of the bench, their hands clasped together tightly and his sister-in-law's stomach bulging with a baby. His father sat stiffly next to Yuiichi, his eyes looking ahead straight at him, not urging him to continue but just simply supporting him. An empty space beside him and then his sister, her eyes filled with tears as she waited for him to describe the scene that they both had seen. And finally, Akito, his head bowed into his hands, elbows on his knees, waiting for the inevitable.

Kyoya looked back at his father for a single moment and then started speaking slowly, "I thought… I thought she was playing a trick. She liked to trick us. She enjoyed the looks on our faces when we'd discovered that she'd pulled the wool over our eyes. But she was too still. The smell was too _real_. The gun was only a foot or two away from her and I fell to my knees next to her within reaching distance of it. Her blood was soaking into the carpet and there was spatter across the bed." He paused and pursed his lips in distaste at the images assaulting his mind.

"It came from her head. Completely from her head where the bullet had torn through the side of it just above her ear. And I… I… Is that enough detail for you or must I keep going?"

"No. That's fine, Kyoya-san. Thank you."

"Permission to cross-examine."

"Granted."

Kyoya drew in a fairly irritated breath. He knew this would happen, however, he didn't like this lawyer. And not only because she was defending the man who had murdered his mother. She stalked toward the front of the room where he sat. He suddenly felt like a mouse faced with a cat and scowled at the metaphor. An Ohtori was not prey for _anyone_.

"Kyoya-chan-" His frown deepened. He was not a child. Very few people had the privilege to call him by that suffix. Needless to say, she kept going heedless of his anger. "-you only heard a gunshot? You didn't see anything?"

He stiffened. "I think it can be readily implied that I did not need to see the actual shooting to know the outcome and how it was reached," he stated coldly, eyes becoming daggers.

"But you didn't see anyone? No one leaving the room or anything?"

He licked his lips because he knew exactly what she was doing. "No. B-"

"Then you didn't see Ray Takahashi at the scene at all despite how soon you arrived?"

"No."

"Did it occur to you that your mother may simply have killed herself?"

"Objection!"

His hand curled into a fist out of public eye as the judge scrambled to regain control as the prosecution went into a frenzy. Kyoya just stared at Chiyoko Takahashi with cold eyes until things quieted enough for him to be heard. "My mother did not have depression, suicidal thoughts, or any other mental illness that would have led to suicide. Even if she did she would at least have the decency to commit suicide when her family wasn't home and the dignity to do so without something as crude and messy as a handgun - which, I will remind you, is the same make and model as my father's but is _not his_. Check your facts before asking 14-year-old boys their opinion on their mother's death, Miss Takahashi."

She gaped at him for a moment until she pulled herself together enough to smirk. "Why was your mother sleeping in the middle of the day, Kyoya-chan?"

His lip curled slightly at the use of the suffix again. "She hadn't been sleeping well."

"Do you know why that might be?"

"Insomnia. My mother had it frequently as do I."

"Did you know that insomnia is a side-affect of antidepressants?"

"She wasn't taking antidepressants."

"Are you so sure of that, Kyoya-chan?" And then she pulled out a small bag, presenting the bottle of the very medicine that his mother had taken daily. "This bottle contains medicine with antidepressant qualities. Mayumi Ohtori was taking it in daily doses."

Where had she _gotten _that? "Be that as it may, my mother was not taking it for depression."

"It still implies that there's the possibility. Not to mention the note is in her handwriting."

Now he _really _hated this lawyer. He resisted the urge to shout at her how _illogical _this entire argument was because Mayumi _wasn't _depressed and she wouldn't have thought that killing herself would result in anything good for anyone. As it was he bit his tongue and let himself be excused from the stand to watch the rest of the trial.

Chiyoko Takahashi had gotten her way in though. It did not matter that Ray had had access to the house because of his job as the gardener. It didn't matter that somehow a second gun _exactly like his father's _had shown up in the house like magic. Enough doubt had been cast that Kyoya knew before the end of the trial what the verdict was going to be. So when the jury left to deliberate, he took a limo to Tamaki's house instead of waiting to hear the 'not guilty' verdict.

"Not guilty," he told Tamaki coldly, yanking off his tie as the blonde opened the door of his mansion.

"What?!" the blonde exclaimed, outraged. "They can't have reached a verdict like that! Not so soon!"

"They haven't. I just happen to know that they are going to without a doubt call it not guilty. There's too much doubt that he's the murderer. Despite Takahashi having a job as a gardener, and therefore access to the house; despite the gun appearing out of nowhere; despite the fact that my mother was not depressed no matter _what _properties the medicine she was taking had; despite the fact that someone could have climbed out the window. Despite all this fucking evidence against the idea of a suicide, it's trumped by a medicine she was taking, insomnia, her handwriting on a note, and the goddamn fact that no one actually saw Takahashi. The man has no alibi, mind you, but apparently he doesn't _need _one."

He sat down angrily and ran his hands through his hair, tugging at it. He felt helpless and the slightest bit of guilt gnawed at his stomach like somehow _his _testimony had been what had set Ray Takahashi free. His hands dropped. "God, I hate that lawyer," he muttered, rethinking every word that had been said. "She purposely called me Kyoya_-chan _to make me seem like a boy who didn't know what he was really dealing with. And then she took the details that I couldn't place and turned them against- I _really _hate that lawyer."

Tamaki just stood by and watched him with a frown, listening to his friend rant because he knew that was what he needed. He needed someone to listen to him.

"If my father would just allow for those damn threats to be part of the evidence, they'd _know _it wasn't a suicide. Though… I supposed even that wouldn't condemn Takahashi. Goddamn him and his stupid lawyer."

Finally, he just lapsed into silence, his mind still whirling but his mouth done talking. Tamaki sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder while the boy stared into space in disbelief.

They were going to do something about this. If not for Kyoya himself then for some other family.

~o~

**A/N: Heeeeeey. I promised didn't I? Enjoy, but keep in mind that this is probably not even going to be updated until my next three day weekend or later. (I don't even know when that is. So uhh… You can see what my problem is.) **

**Kudos to: xXSimplyMagicalXx, AnimeApprentice, and StrawberryGlazed. Thank you for the lovely reviews~ **


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